The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Investor Alley => Topic started by: conrad_9 on May 23, 2016, 04:07:35 PM
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Hi all - I am major lurker and aspiring mustachian with an amateurish investing question. Please enlighten me!
Preface: I tried searching "b corp" in the forums but each word must be over two letters so it would not process the search. In other words I apologize if this topic has been discussed before.
I am looking into investing in index funds however some of the holdings in various funds (including socially responsible ones) represent companies that I would rather not support. Yet I know finding a B Corp index fund makes no sense since the S&P 500 does not have many (or any?) B Corps.
Does anyone here invest in the B Corp Fund http://www.bcorpfund.com/investment.html (http://www.bcorpfund.com/investment.html)? The site doesn't look legitimate or connected to BCorporation dot net. To rephrase, does anyone invest in B Corp stocks or a collection of B Corp stocks?
I know MMM and his reader faithful swear by - and live off of - index funds, but after peeking around a little bit more I feel like B Corp is a natural extension of MMM's values. The downside is clearly its not as effective of an investment tool currently.
Should I drop my crusade and simply pick a socially responsible index fund? Thanks in advance!
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How is B Corp a natural extension of MMM's values? Furthermore, why would a Mustachian person invest $250k (the minimum I could find in that website) in any single private investment? This doesn't look like something most of us would be interested in.
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I see B Corps as a natural extension of MMM's values because its investing in companies that manage moral and ethical businesses. He would like B Corps (or already does) because they are designed to solve social and environmental problems. Have you read about MMM's writings on climate change and the planet in general? He often comes back to the premise that this is not a PF blog but a make the world better blog. See: What is Hedonic Adaptation and How Can it Turn You Into a Sucka? (goal #3). I do not think I am far off thinking B Corp aligns with MMM and other mustachians' values.
So based on the premise that I see commonalities between B Corps and MMM/readers I wanted to ask this question if people had invested in B Corp stock or a collection of B Corp stocks. I did not say a Mustachian person would invest $250k - (nor do I know if that is a legitimate website.)
I am turning to this forum to see if there is any investing connection between B Corps and mustachianism.
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Try searching the Motley Fool author Alyce Lomax on Google. She writes almost exclusively about socially responsible investing.
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This almost looks like a pump and dump scheme...
https://mattermark.com/companies/bcorpfund.com No employees
maybe it was intended to mimic http://www.bcorporation.net/ ?
Thanks! That's what I was afraid of...
But regardless of that bogus fund, do any MMM readers have experience with B Corps?
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Try searching the Motley Fool author Alyce Lomax on Google. She writes almost exclusively about socially responsible investing.
Thank you!
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You aren't going to find any publicly traded benefit corporations.
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You aren't going to find any publicly traded benefit corporations.
Found one. :)
Natura, http://www.forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2014/12/16/brazils-natura-the-largest-cosmetics-maker-in-latin-america-becomes-a-b-corp/#2bb7f7e39779 (http://www.forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2014/12/16/brazils-natura-the-largest-cosmetics-maker-in-latin-america-becomes-a-b-corp/#2bb7f7e39779)
It would be huge if Unilever made the transition, http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jan/23/benefit-corporations-bcorps-business-social-responsibility (http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jan/23/benefit-corporations-bcorps-business-social-responsibility)
So I guess Mustachians aren't really into B Corps... just trying to stimulate a conversation!
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You aren't going to find any publicly traded benefit corporations.
Found one. :)
Natura, http://www.forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2014/12/16/brazils-natura-the-largest-cosmetics-maker-in-latin-america-becomes-a-b-corp/#2bb7f7e39779 (http://www.forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2014/12/16/brazils-natura-the-largest-cosmetics-maker-in-latin-america-becomes-a-b-corp/#2bb7f7e39779)
It would be huge if Unilever made the transition, http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jan/23/benefit-corporations-bcorps-business-social-responsibility (http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jan/23/benefit-corporations-bcorps-business-social-responsibility)
So I guess Mustachians aren't really into B Corps... just trying to stimulate a conversation!
Benefit corporation ≠ B Corp.
A benefit corporation is a legal status that allows the board of directors to place the social or environmental interests above or on par with shareholders. The legal status is new in the last 6 years and is recognized in 30 US states. Some do-gooder with a controlling interest may convert a corporation to a benefit corporation, but outside shareholders aren't going to go for it any time soon.
"B Corp" is just a designation by a nonprofit foundation and means nothing else. If a "B Corp" that is not a registered benefit corporation tried to focus on social or environmental interests, shareholders would sue the shit out of the board of directors for breach of fiduciary duty.
I never heard of the one company you found, but I will admit I don't follow Brazilian companies. Unilever is a Dutch company. According to the article they have been negotiating for 3 years and get even become a "B Corp". Sounds like a waste of time.
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I think B corps are a great idea, just that they are a new concept that hasn't matured to the point of becoming something individuals can invest in, in any kind of diversified way yet. I think a lot of the B corps are smaller or privately held. . . and the general bias here is on indexing which makes investing in a single company pretty tough.